QuestionQUESTION: I live in Huntington Beach. CA and I have just discovered that two of my many palms and ferns have what I think is a fungus located at the base of their trunks (ground level to approx. 12 inches) and on their surface roots. It's very white and relatively solid and is a dry and tough to scrape off; not powdery nor wet/slimey. It looks like wax but is dry. My local nursey person said he had never seen/heard of such a thing. I have pics to send you if that would help. thanks for any help!
ANSWER: Hi Bruce, without seeing the pictures its hard for me to tell, are the palms/ferns showing any stress? is the affliction spreading? follow up with this info and pictures if possible. Nick
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QUESTION: Nick, I discovered this upon returning from a 1.5 week vacation. I did not see it there before. The two plants are adjacent to each other. It appears to have spread from one to the other and it also seems to be spreading to the wood fence base near these plants. The plants do not show any distress now. How do I attach pictures to my response? Thx.
AnswerI don't think its going to be harmful then, if its on the fence post, it sounds like an innocuous fungus that is just using the palm and post to attach to. Have you tried removing it? a copper fungicide may do the trick. I don't know how or even if, you can attach pictures on this site. Nick
